WoW removes one of its most popular icons after 18 years: “Big mistake, Blizzard”

The well-known “Silver Dragon” for rare spawns in World of Warcraft disappears. And the community goes on the barricades. They want to keep the mark on the life bar of rare mobs.

If there’s one thing that long-time fans of World of Warcraft have trouble with, it’s change. Worse still, when that change consists of something being “taken away”. But that is exactly the case with one of the most well-known symbols of World of Warcraft. Because with Dragonflight, the famous “silver dragon” will no longer exist – if it happens like it did in the beta.

What is happening? With the next expansion, Dragonflight, there will be a major overhaul of the interface. The UI, which is now quite old, is being fundamentally renewed, modernized in many cases and provided with numerous customization options. However, some old decorative elements that would not fit the new design also have to give way.

And just such a jewelry element is the silver dragon.

What is the Silver Dragon? In World of Warcraft there are rare enemies, so-called “rare spawns”. These often have a long respawn timer, so they are not always encountered. There is almost always a special reward waiting for you when defeating such enemies. This can be a chance for a pet or a specific weapon, but toys are also possible.

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In Dragonflight, the Silver Dragon has disappeared with the new interface. Instead, “Rare Spawns” will then have a small icon under their health bar that identifies them as a special enemy. While this serves its purpose, it’s not as obvious and may take some getting used to to spot rare enemies at first glance.

Why does the community love the old icon so much? The “silver dragon” is associated with nostalgia for many WoW veterans. Many players can still remember the first time they spotted such an enemy and were excited to see what it meant.

Over 18 years, many people have become accustomed to this symbol and with it the expectation that comes with a silver dragon. Accordingly, it seems to be difficult for some to have to part with it now.

This is how the reactions in the World of Warcraft subreddit are:

• “The Silver Dragon should never go away. It’s iconic. A big mistake.”
• “Hey, it’s Dragon Flight. Let’s take dragons out of the game. Brilliant move.”
• “What the hell. I hate that. You should leave that in WoW because it’s an iconic element of the interface that adds to the feel of the game. The dragon is even used in Hearthstone to indicate legendary cards. It is a unifying interface element of the Warcraft franchise. What the hell are you doing, Blizzard?”
• “Maybe it’s called Dragonflight because the dragon flew away.”
• “Whatever soul the interface had, I guess we lost that in the shadow lands too.”

In case of doubt, the whole thing will probably be fixed with an interface addon in the first few weeks after the launch anyway – but maybe Blizzard will soften after all and not remove the silver dragon in favor of a small, inconspicuous character.